


An Exercise in Patience

by orphan_account



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 05:56:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5528588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something out of nowhere</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Exercise in Patience

**Author's Note:**

> This is my present for MGS secret santa! Hope you enjoy :)

Catherine was dropped off at the school bus stop. Miller walked her home, hand in hand, looking both ways before crossing the street. He put chicken nuggets in the oven, pulled a bag of baby carrots out of the fridge, and asked her how her day was. Good, she said, and went on about something that happened during art. A nice, mundane routine. Something that happened every day. Something that kept his mind off of other things.

Maybe it was fair to say that he didn't want to play the game anymore. Maybe it was also fair to say that he'd never get out of it. He couldn't just leave Foxhound or Dave alone. And he had his role to play in this story. Not a role he particularly wanted in the first place. 

It was probably eleven or twelve hours ahead for him. Evening. He had better things to do. It was something out of a dream - not one that was particularly good or bad. Would he ever talk to his old Boss again, he wondered. His heart was racing. Out of curiosity, Miller answered his radio and told Catherine to go eat in the living room. 

"Kaz." Big Boss's voice aged significantly. But it was him.

"What do you want?" The last time they talked was when he payed for his arm and leg transplant. It was a quick affair. He hated himself for giving in back then. Now, he was just his heat and his heartbeat.

He hesitated a bit. Kaz could hear his fingers tapping on a desk. "To say sorry."

If only he'd been fifteen or so years younger. He would've relished that moment. Maybe stepped on his balls or something of that nature. But he loved having grown up, having thought things through. He was mature enough to handle this now. He yelled across two rooms and told Nadine to start on her homework. He'd clear her plates later.

"Continue."

"Sorry that I...couldn't be there. I think that covers most of it." Feet tapping. "If things had gone differently, I don't think we could have been in Costa Rica forever, either. But this, this...."

It was something out of the deepest recesses of his subconscious. Not something particularly bad or good. And yet, he wasn't angry.

"I didn't know anything about relationships back then. Really. I was so dense. I'd assumed you'd go along with everything, because, well....we loved each other back then, didn't we?"

"...And you thought that, when you loved someone, you did whatever they wanted." He sounded like a fairy tale book. Miller found himself smirking, but withdrew. Could he still trust him?

Probably not. No matter how much he yearned, dreamed, loved, or hated, he was a monster.

A loud knock on the door from the other side.

"Yeah. Exactly that." His voice sounded as if he was about to cry.

He shouted to someone. "COME IN!"

There was a bang in the background. One he couldn't identify. He was yelling at someone too, maybe. Miller looked outside the large window in the kitchen. A quiet neighborhood. Villas and palm trees. What happened to them, huh? He burned all the pictures.

"I love you," he continued, "and I think I always did. You weren't the only one, of course. I just thought that I should tell you before I forget."

"I love you too," he replied, and he was afraid of how much sincerity that sentence held. As long as it would calm Big Boss down. And as long as he could still say it without hurting the narrative. 

"Good." He chuckled a bit. "Just remember that."

Click.

His daughter was fixated on the TV screen. He turned it off and told her to go back to her homework. As she left the room, he sat himself on the couch and turned it back on.


End file.
